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The One OS to Rule Them All - 33 Android vs iOS Market Share Stats
Updated: May 16,2022
In the past decade, the Android vs iOS market share debate has become a hot topic in the tech world. Two massive companies with billions of consumers worldwide. Two diametrically opposed approaches towards how operating systems should work. Google may be a part of Alphabet, but in America “A” still stands for “Apple.” In a battle between open source and one of the world’s most closely curated ecosystems, which operating system do people actually prefer and why? Let’s find out.
Android vs iOS Market Share Worldwide
The first section of our Apple vs Android showdown concerns the global numbers. The battle of iPhone users vs Android users primarily takes place on smartphones, but Apple and Google have sizable market shares on tablets and other smart devices, as well. The low percentage of iPhone users vs Android in 2019 looked far less impressive for Apple than the situation with tablet devices. In terms of overall and smartphone statistics worldwide, Google was the dominant force last year. However, the popularity of the iPad helped Apple beat its competitor for the top spot in the tablet market.
1. Android and iOS jointly account for over 98% of the global smartphone operating systems market share.
(Statista)
2. Android is the most popular OS worldwide with 40.47% of the operating system market share across all types of devices.
(StatCounter)
3. With 14.92% of the global OS market, the iPhone ranks third across all platforms, behind Windows and Android.
(StatCounter)
4. The Android market share currently represents 74.13% of the global mobile operating system market.
(StatCounter)
5. The iPhone market share worldwide accounts for 24.79% of all smart mobile devices.
(StatCounter)
6. Apple dominates the tablet market, with iOS accounting for 63.11% of all installed operating systems on smart tablets around the world.
(StatCounter)
7. With 36.65% of the tablet market share, Android is the second most popular tablet OS worldwide.
(StatCounter)
8. IDC predicts that by 2022 iOS and Android device market shares will account for 100% of the market (87% Android and 13% iOS).
(IDC)
Android vs iOS in the United States
Looking at the global stats, it’s clear that Android emerged as the winner on the global market in all categories except smart tablets. But what is the situation like in America? How does the battle of Apple’s iPhone vs Android devices made by dozens of other manufacturers look at home? Even casually analyzing the Android vs iOS market share in the US gives us a very different picture compared to the stats we saw worldwide. Considering how many people have iPhones in the States as opposed to how many iPhones have been sold worldwide, it’s little surprise that it’s still one of the toughest markets in the world for Google to crack.
9. Over a third of all devices in the United States (33.26%) have iOS installed.
(StatCounter)
10. iOS is the mobile OS of choice for more than half (55.55%) of US consumers.
(StatCounter)
11. With 70.21% of all devices running iOS, Apple is the dominant force on the tablet market.
(StatCounter)
12. A quarter (25.28%) of the market share makes Android the third most popular OS across all platforms in the United States.
(StatCounter)
13. 44.29% of mobile phone users in the United States have Android installed on their phones.
(StatCounter)
14. Android is the OS of choice for nearly three in ten tablet owners in America (29.54%).
(StatCounter)
Android vs Apple in Europe
Comparing the market share of iOS vs Android in Europe, we are again faced with a very different picture. Unlike in the States, Apple has a very small presence on the smart device market in Europe, saved only by a strong presence on the smart tablet market. The difference between iPhone and Android devices is least pronounced in the United Kingdom, where the two operating systems are fairly evenly matched.
15. With a 33% market share, Android is the second most popular OS in Europe, right behind MS Windows.
(StatCounter)
16. iOS is installed on only 14.33% of smart devices and computers in Europe.
(StatCounter)
17. In Europe, Android is the dominant smartphone platform with a 71.76% market share, followed by iOS with 27.58%.
(StatCounter)
18. As far as tablets are concerned, iOS is the leading OS with 59.69% of the EU market, ahead of Android with 40.09%.
(StatCounter)
19. According to DeviceAtlas, the iOS and Android market share in the UK are evenly matched (49.9% 50.1%).
(DeviceAtlas)
iOS vs Android in Asia
Android is a pretty dominant force in Asia. Due to desktop computers being a luxury for many homes in China and India, smartphones are the primary devices used by the majority of the Asian population. Thus, the market share of Android vs iOS is heavily skewed towards the former, which manages to beat even Microsoft Windows as the most installed OS across all types of devices in Asia. Predictably, tablets save the day for Apple again, although it’s a tiny market in comparison.
20. Over half of all devices in Asia (53.63%) have Android installed.
(StatCounter)
21. Android is king of mobile operating systems in Asia, with a massive 85.9% market share.
(StatCounter)
22. iOS has a tiny 8.6% OS and 12.69% smartphone market share share in Asia.
(StatCounter)
23. Apple is leading the tablet game in Asia, with a 58.62% market share, ahead of Android’s 41.18%.
(StatCounter)
Android vs iOS Market Share in Africa
Considering the search popularity of the term Android vs iPhone, a lot of people don’t make the distinction between operating systems (Android, iOS) and mobile phones (Samsung, LG, iPhone). Not counting the United States, this matters on other continents, where iOS takes the fight back to Android through the popularity of its iPad tablet devices. In Africa, however, Google dominates across all categories uniformly. The iOS market is so tiny that it gets soundly beaten by Android across all devices.
24. Android rules over all categories in Africa, with a 51.16% market share across all devices, 83.78% in mobile devices and 71.15% in tablets.
(StatCounter)
25. iOS is the third most popular OS in Africa across all devices (7.4%), and the second most popular one when it comes to mobile phones (11.28%) and tablets (28.55%).
(StatCounter)
iOS vs Android Market Share in Latin America
Latin America is another area where Apple flat out loses to Google across all relevant categories. Looking at the Android vs iOS market share in 2019 and beyond, we can note dismal numbers for Apple when it comes to overall and mobile stats, with tablets somewhat improving the situation but not enough for iOS to overtake Android in that category either.
26. The Android device market share in Latin America comes in first in the mobile (89.47%) and tablet (59.23%) markets but second when it comes to all devices, behind Windows.
(StatCounter)
27. Latin America has a fairly small iOS market share - 3.75% overall, 9.83% on the mobile market, and 40.56% when it comes to tablets.
(StatCounter)
Smartphone Store Market
The last section of our Android vs iOS market share statistics concerns the metrics of Google and Apple’s hugely popular app stores. You’ll find out how much the Google Play and the App Store were used during the past year and what the largest revenue earners across both stores were.
28. The Google Play Store (used by 64.52% of smartphone owners) and the Apple App Store (62.90%) are the two leading app stores worldwide.
(GoodFirms)
29. There were 84.3 billion app downloads on Google Play and 30.6 billion on Apple’s App Store in 2019.
(Sensor Tower)
30. By 2023, the Android market combined with the iOS market will account for 161 billion yearly downloads globally.
(Sensor Tower)
31. WhatsApp was the most popular app on the Google Play Market, while TikTok dominated the iOS App Store in 2019.
(Sensor Tower)
32. PUBG mobile was the most downloaded game on Google’s store, while Call of Duty: Mobile dominated on iOS.
(Sensor Tower)
33. Google was the most popular publisher on Apple’s App Store while Facebook dominated on Google’s own platform in 2019.
(Sensor Tower)
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
When looking at global statistics, Android has over 40% of the the global OS market across all devices and nearly 75% of the mobile market. However, iOS is installed on over half of the mobile operating systems in the States, and on over a third of all devices.
Android is the definite winner in this battle. Considering that there are over 5 billion mobile users in the world, and Android accounts for nearly 75% of those, there are around 3.75 billion Android users around. In comparison, Apple’s share accounts for around 25%, which works out to 1.25 billion iOS users worldwide.
Remember, Android is an operating system, and iPhone is a smartphone. Still, Apple is more popular than Google, so there are more iOS-installed devices in the States than there are Android ones.
Without any doubt, it’s China. However, in terms of penetration, Huawei dominates the market in China. When it comes to the Android vs iOS market share debate, Japan and the United States have much higher Apple user percentages than China (over 50% of the smartphone users).
iPhone 6, together with its bigger brother iPhone 6 Plus, it outsold any other iPhone to date by a fair margin. Nevertheless, its successor, the iPhone 7 is currently the most used smartphone in the world, accounting for over 5% of all smartphone devices in use today.
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A true tech and gaming savant, Ivan has been fascinated by the digital world since the early days of gaming on antiques such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore’s beloved Amiga. Whether you’re interested in the latest PC and console gaming news, antivirus software, or smartphone reviews, or simply want to learn about the newest geeky gadgets around, we at KT have you covered, and Ivan’s likely the one we’ll ask.
